The Washington critic., 1887-11-26
ORIGIN OF CURIOUS SAYINGS.
"sixes nnd sevens.'

Many explanations have been at.
tempted Of this expression, but none so
good as TO render new attempt un.
necessary. 1t may be noted that the
present form is corruption Of "at six
and seven" So It appears In the
Townley Mysteries, in Taylor, the
water poets works, and In Shakespeare.
We read In Richard H., act 2, scene 2:
All Is uneven,
And everything Is left at six and seven.
One earlier explanation of a still
earlier form-"set on seven"-is that
God appointed oil things In seven days,
and that the expression was originally
used to indicate order, but afterward
came to express disorder. This is
not very satisfactory. Mares explains
"sixes and sevens" by reference to
the game of backgammon, but no ex.
PLANTATION that have seen is as good as
one suggested to me by an ingenious
friend. He says that II we write down
the ordinary Arabic numerals we shall
find that all run evenly Il, 2, 8, A, 5)
until we come to six, when the upper
stroke runs above the line, and to seven,
when the stroke runs below the line.
So It may be said that at "six and
seven" irregularlty begins. OF course,
this Is mere onjecture, and no explana.
tien can be considered as thorough
until historical evidence corroborates
conjecture, but / think 1t suggestion
well worth consideration.
Hes n Brick"
Plutarch, In his life of Agesilaus,
King Of Sparta, gives the original Of
the quaint and familiar saying. On
certain occasion an ambassador from
Epirus, on diplomatic mission, was
shown by the king over his capital.
The ambassador knew of the monarch's
fame-knew that though only nominally
king Of Sparta he was the ruler of Greece
and he looked to see massive walls
rearing aloft their embattled towers for
the defense Of the town, but found
nothing Of the kind. He marveled
much at this and spoke of 1t to the
king;
most Of the principal towns and find
no walls reared for defense. Why is
this?"
"Indeed, Sir Ambassador" replied
hkCsIluuSS tuOu CuubI uuNC lOOhCu
carefully. Come with me to morrow
morning and l will show you the walls
OF Sparta"
Accordingly, on the folio wing morn.
ing the king led his guest out upon
the plain where his army was drawn
up In full battle array, and, pointing
proudly to the serried ranks, he said;
There thou beholdest the walls of
Sparta-1O,O00 men, and every man q
brick.
"Not Worth n Rap"
The want of small money In Ireland
had grown to such an extent In 1721-2
that counterfeit coins called "raps"
were In common use, made of such
bad metal that what passed for half.
penny was not worth farthing.
Hence the cant phrase mot worth a
rap" The name was In all probabil-
ity derived from rappen, a small Swiss
coin valued at about half farthing.
walk Your Chaiks,"
A very simple explanation Of this
expression may be given. English ale
house frequenters. when they have
been drinking long enough to make a
boast of being sober, and to dispute a
pOlht WIN SuSh othSit VIII IMAM ioh
line on the ground and then endeavor,
one after another, to walk upon 1t
without swerving to the right or left.
Those who succeed are adjudged to be
sober, 1. O., to have walked their
chalks."
"COOk Your Goose"
According to Notes and Queries
Cooking your goose" is thus ex.
plained "The King Of Sweden's
Goose-The King Of Sweden, coming
to town of his enemy's with very little
company, his enemy, to slight hi:
forces, did hang out goose for him Ia
shoot; but perceiving before night thai
these few soldiers had invaded and SCI
their chiefe houlds on fire, they de
manded of him what his intention was
to whom he replied: To roast youl
goose !! "
SECT, according to Cowel 0aw die
tionary), signifies certain custom OF
foliage. The right of voting In Kng-
land was formerly In those who paid
"scot' and "lot." "Scot free," there
fore, is from such custom or foliage.
"strain at Gnat."
The Moorish soldier, when he drinks
unfolds the end of his turban and place
1t over the mouth of his bota, drinking
through the muslin to strain out the
gnats, whose Larvae swarm In the
water of that country.
90 In n Corner
This Is an expression denotlng some
thing not noticed at first, but seen after
ward; something partially hidden, as
were, in an out Of the way place o
corner. In French law queue" Is tn
thong by which seals are fastened I
legal documents. The queue is alway
in the corner Of the document
.'ill 60 Through Fire ana water {
serve You"
The Bishops of Rochester possesse
the manor of Souihneet. In Kent, bC
fore the conquest, and, as not unusuc
In ancient times, the Court of South
fleet had the power of trying and exc
cutting felons. The jurisdiction eS
tended not only 10 acts of felony don
within the village, but also over Grim
inals apprehended in another country
An instance of this kind In the yea
1900 is mentioned by T. Blount in hi
"Ancient Tenures." 1t was of tw
women, who had stolen some clothes i
Croydene Supposed to be Croydon
and the men of that place having pur
sued them to Southheld, they were i'm
prisoned and tried by Lord Henry d
Gotham and other discreet men of tn
pOuntrV who had aliulrel Them I